The Animals of Africa

I've picked six animals of Africa for children to become familiar with, but there are many more African animals that children can learn about through books, the zoo or online.
You can use the sets of pictures for a matching game.
You could also match pictures with sounds.
Teach vocabulary.
Older children can read the facts to see what they understand and maybe become interested in some of these fascinating animals.




Click here to download the folder containing all the files.
It includes the picture sets, sound files, a large picture map of Africa and a Microsoft Word document with all the facts I've written here.

African Elephant
Facts:

• The African Elephant is the largest living land animal. African elephants are larger than the Asian Elephant.

 

• They live in large close families led by a female.

 

• Female elephants are called cows and males are called bulls.

 

• They are excellent swimmers.

 

• They have few natural enemies besides humans and are an endangered species. They have been hunted by humans for their ivory tusks.

 

• Both males and females have tusks.

 

• They have wrinkled, gray-brown skin that is almost hairless.

 

• Their ears are large; about five feet across and are shaped like the continent of Africa.

 

• The trunk is an extension of the nose. They can use it to drink water or eat food. To get water, the elephant sucks water into the trunk, then curls the trunk towards the mouth and squirts the water into it. The trunk has two prehensile (grasping) extensions at the tip, which it uses like a hand.

Diet:
Elephants eat roots, grasses, leaves, fruit, and bark.
Sounds:
An elephant can trumpet, snort, bark and roar.
Elephants can call each other by making rumbling sounds so low that humans can’t hear them.
Article about elephant sounds
Kids won’t understand that article, but I included it if any of you might be interested in learning about the many sounds and calls that elephants can make.






Giraffe
Facts:

• Giraffes are the tallest land animal reaching up to 19 feet (6 m) tall and can weigh up to 2,800 pounds (1270kg).

 

• Patterns: Most have brown polygons on a cream/tan background. The polygons are larger on the body and smaller on the face and limbs.

 

• Both males and females have two short horns.

 

• Giraffes live in the African grasslands also called savannas.

Diet:
Herbivores (plant-eaters) Eating mostly leaves, twigs and bark.
Sounds:
Giraffes are quiet animals, but they can make a bleating sound like a sheep or a loud grunt or roar if they feel threatened. I searched online, but couldn’t find these particular sounds. However, I found sounds of giraffes walking around and munching on plants.





Hippopotamus
Facts:

• The Hippopotamus is a large mammal from swampy areas, lakes, and rivers in sub-Saharan Africa (south of the Sahara desert).

 

• It is semi-aquatic, spending much of its time in the water.

 

• They can open their mouth up to four feet wide and weigh up to 10,000 pounds.

 

• Hippopotamus means "river horse" in Greek.

 

• They are nocturnal (active at night).

 

• Hippos spend the day resting and cooling off in shallow water, emerging from the water at night to graze on grass.

Diet:
Hippos are herbivores (plant-eaters).
Sounds:
Hippos make many growling and grunting sounds.
Click here to hear a hippo grunting and moving around in the water.
Here’s my favorite hippo sound.





Lion
Facts:

• A group of lions is called a pride.

 

• There can be up to 25 lions in one group.

 

• Lions live in grassy plains (savannas) in Africa and some live in India.

 

• Lions are nocturnal which means they are active at night.

Diet:
Carnivore (meat eaters) they hunt and eat large animals.
Sounds:
Click here to hear a powerful roar.






Meerkat
Facts:

• Meerkats are small, burrowing mammals that live on the plains of southern Africa.

 

• They are a type of mongoose.

 

• Meerkats live in groups of up to 25 animals (called a "mob" or "gang").

 

• They are fiercely territorial and usually stay very close to their underground burrows, where they live.

 

• One meerkat will stand watch in order to warn the group with a shrill cry when a dangerous predator approaches.

 

• Hawks, eagles and jackals hunt meerkats

 

• Meerkats frequently sit or stand on their hind legs in an upright position to watch what’s going on around them, using their tail as a third leg.

Diet:
: Meerkats are primarily insectivores (insect-eaters). They scratch into the ground
For insects and insect larvae to eat. They also eat other small animals (like lizards
and mice) and some plants.
Sounds:
Meerkats make many sounds including alarm calls, growls and chattering. I couldn’t find any meerkat sound clips online so I’ve taken a clip from the popular TV show, “Meerkat Manor”.
Click here to hear what they sound like.






Zebra
Facts:

• Zebras live in African grassy plains (savannas).

 

• They are closely related to horses and donkeys.

 

• They live in families or large herds.

 

• Females lead the group while males watch the back of the group to protect them from other animals.

 

• Zebra fur has distinctive white stripes on a black background. No two zebras have
  the same pattern.

Diet:
Zebra's are herbivores and spend a lot of time eating grass and need to drink a lot of water.
Sounds:
Since zebras are related to horses, they make the same galloping sound when they walk.
I also found a zebra sound that sounds like barking.





Vocabulary:

• Carnivore: Meat eater.

 

• Endangered species: Means there are very few left alive.

 

• Herbivore: Plant eater.

 

• Insectivore: Insect eater.

 

• Nocturnal: Active at night.

 

• Pride: Group of lions.

 

• Savanna: Grassland.

 

Semi-aquatic: To spend part of the time in the water.

I hope you've enjoyed this post.
Soon, I will be posting more activities dealing with African animals and their habitats.
Most facts were found from:
here.

All images were found on Google Images and are clipart.

Animals From Seven Continents

I’m starting a new series of posts called, Animals from Seven Continents. I will be starting with Africa and each week, I’ll post one or two posts containing facts about the animals, sound files, picture matching games, ideas for other activities and more. Some things will be too advanced for toddlers and some preschoolers but they should be able to do most of it especially the older preschoolers. For toddlers, probably just seeing pictures, hearing sounds and learning some of the basic words would be enough. Some of the vocabulary might be more appropriate for children in kindergarten and up. I’m interested in many types of animals and I like to share this interest and love for animals with children which is what inspired these posts. I hope you enjoy them.

My Twinn Doll Giveaway

I’ve never written about giveaways on other blogs before, but I thought this one was cool. It’s a customizable doll from, My Twinn!
You can customize a doll to look like your daughter or any special girl in your life. I know some of you have daughters and would probably love to give something like this as a Christmas gift or a gift for another occasion. The dolls are a little expensive because they are customized so if you win the giveaway, it would save you a lot of money and you end up with a cool gift. They have a variety of other things from friend’s collection dolls, pet accessories, personalized books and more.

When I was little, I would have loved this. I had a favorite doll that I named Kelly. I don’t remember if that name came with her or if I named her that. I’m thinking it came with her, but I picked her out at the store when I was four so I really don’t remember much about when I got her except taking her out of the box. I brought her everywhere with me. I remember she smelled like baby powder. Her head is turned to one side and it makes her look like she is sleeping. She came with an outfit, but eventually, I put my own baby pajamas on her and that is how she’s pictured below. I took another bracelet off one of my other dolls and put it on her and she still has the bracelet and pajamas on to this day. She sits in my closet with a few of my other dolls. My mom always wondered why I picked that doll to be my favorite instead of dolls that she thought were prettier. I really don’t know. She didn’t have a fancy dress, she was smaller than most of my other dolls, she didn’t make sounds or come with cool accessories, but I just thought she was special in her own way. Maybe because she looked like a baby and those were the kinds of dolls I preferred or maybe it was because she had a soft body and was easy for me to carry around and snuggle with.




I still like dolls and have a small porcelain doll collection. None of those dolls are as special as Kelly. Now, you can get dolls that look how you want and even just like you. Not many people can say they have a twin doll. It might be even more exciting if the girl gets to help customize her special doll. Anyway, I’m hoping one of my followers will win a special doll for her daughter or another special girl that she will keep and love for a life time. To enter, go to the review by Mama Buzz and follow the instructions. Good luck to my followers.

Weekly Favorites: November 7, 2010

Here are my weekly favorites for November 7, 2010.
There were a lot of great posts that I read this week especially the science experiments. I’m listing them from oldest to newest.
1.
Cranberry Play-dough.
Another creative play-dough recipe.

2.
Textured Pumpkins.
A fun fall pumpkin craft.

3.
Hunting For That Moment Of "Ah Ha"
A post from Teacher Tom about repairs, two-year-olds taking things apart and that feeling of success when they figure out how things work.

4.
The Beehive State.
Bee books, activities and even a bee for lunch.

5.
Playing With Candy: Candy Experiements Part 1
Fun science experiments using Halloween candy.

6.
Sea World in a Box
A creative way to make a sea world.

7.
Great Salt Lake Science
Another interesting science experiment.

I also got the Versatile
Blogger Award from A Little Learning For Two.
Thank you, Caz and everyone else for following my blog.

The Big GreenBall

At the center, the kids love to play with, “the big green ball.” It’s one of those therapy or stability balls that people use during physical or occupational therapy. There are smaller ones that people use for exercise, but the one that we have at the center is huge.

One of their favorite things to do with the big green ball is to have it role over them. On one of our rainy days, I brought a few kids down to a huge room we have and got out the ball. The kids were excited about playing with the ball because we don’t play with it often. I asked what we should play and they said they wanted to make pizza. Last year, a teacher who no longer works with us made up a game with the ball about making pizza and the kids have liked playing it ever since. The kids lay flat on the floor in a straight line so that the ball can role over their backs. The first part is making the dough so I role the ball flat over the kids and tell them that I’m making the dough. Next comes the sauce so I lightly bounce the ball over them. Next comes the cheese so I bounce the ball lightly a few times on each child’s back. Then next comes the toppings which each child gets to pick. Two children picked pepperoni, one picked more cheese, one picked tomatoes and the last girl picked sprinkles. This is a girl who always picks something different which makes things more interesting. For each topping, I bounce the ball a few times on each child’s back and then role it over them to smoothe out the toppings.

Then the kids decided that we should play the game with vegetables so I stopped at each child and asked them what their favorite vegetable was. I got some interesting responses like broccoli, pumpkin, etc. They weren’t things I’d expect, but I was glad to hear that they liked their veggies. Then the girl who likes different things surprised me and said she liked broccoli like one of the boys in the class. The kids started kicking the ball when I’d come around to them and I said this could ruin the ball since our shoes are rough and asked what else we could play that would be better for the ball.

They couldn’t come up with something so I suggested we stand in a circle and role the ball back and forth. It’s a good turn taking game and can actually be a good introductions game at the beginning of the year or whenever new children start. Each person has to say the name of the person before they role it to them. They were occupied with this game for about ten minutes until it was time for the next activity. I had to remind the kids to take turns, but not too often. They made sure that everyone got the ball at least a few times. They will cooperate well and learn patience if they are engaged in the activity. Pushing and rolling the ball around was good exercise on a rainy day.

Rhyming Memory

Here’s a quick and simple rhyming activity. Print off the pictures, cut them into cards and laminate them. You can either just have the kids match them up or play a game of memory. We used this with our preschoolers a couple of weeks ago when we introduced the rhyming concept. They had cards already made with other pictures, but for the purpose of the blog and having a set of my own, I found a different set of pictures. It didn’t take the kids long to do this activity and it’s a good time filler when there’s not much time left before clean up. I hope you enjoy it.

 

Frozen Shapes

I receive an E-mail newsletter from, Play-Activities.com where I saw this idea. I thought it would be neat to try so I’m posting it.


Frozen Water Shapes

Materials:
Various size balloons
Food coloring
Eye droppers
Large container for water play


Preparation:
1. Select different shaped balloons
2. Fill with water
3. Put in freezer for a few days
4. After they are frozen solid- cut away the balloon, leaving the shape.

Ideas:
Put the ice shapes into the large container. ( baby bath, paddling pool or water table)
Allow them to drop the food colouring onto the ice and watch the colors change.

Good For:
Hand - Eye Coordination
Experimentation
Creativity

You could also do this with different shaped ice cube trays.

Telling Stories with Cats

In honor of National Cat Day on October, 29th. Yes, I’m three days late due to illness and trying to find the right pictures.
I originally thought of this as a matching activity with cards or a file folder game which you can still do by making two copies of each picture. However, I’ve also thought of telling stories with cats. They can use any or all of the pictures to tell a story of a cat’s day or they can use their imagination and go beyond a normal day for a cat. You can even find other pictures to expand and go in a totally different direction. Your children can learn some of the basics of cat care. Cats need food and water like humans. Cats also need a bath although not as often as humans. Cats can be friends with dogs, cats come in different shapes, sizes and colors and cats can be silly and playful like the rest of us. They need toys for fun and scratching posts for exercising their muscles and for getting rid of the dead layer that is on top of their claws. It’s like when we cut our nails. Mostly, they need to know that someone loves and cares for them. I’ve included some normal things that a cat would do as well as silly pictures to create a more eventful story. I’ve also included different breeds and colors of cats including ragdolls because I have two of them. Also, I obviously couldn’t find eighteen pictures of the same cat doing different things so they all had to be different, but you can still tell a story. I hope you enjoy this activity and later I’ll post others with different kinds of animals.

 

 

 

All pictures were found using Google Images and they are clip art.